Shale gas and oil is a natural gas found beneath the earth's surface
trapped within shale formation and contains methane gas, ethane and
propane. Shale gas is a large source of domestic energy in the US. Shale
gas was first extracted in Fredonia, New York in a shallow low pressure
fractures. In the decade of 1930's first horizontal drilling was done
and after that in 1947 a well was hydraulic fractured in the US. In the
areas surrounding Chicago, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio shale gas from
5.4tcf (Trillion cubic feet) to 8.9tcf (Trillion cubic feet) was
extracted in the years 1998 and 2007, respectively.

The South African continent has a major sedimentary basin, karoo basin,
which contains thick organic rich shale. The karoo is estimated to have
technically recoverable resources of 485 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Several companies intended to explore for shale gas by using fracturing
in the Karoo region. The US Energy Information Administration in 2011
estimated that Argentina holds 774 trillion cubic feet of recoverable
shale gas reserve, third largest in the world.

With such a huge reserves of shale gas in several parts of the world the
market for shale oil and gas is set to grow exponentially and this
report analyzes the shale oil & gas market at a global level,
technologies employed in extraction process, and the opportunities are
thoroughly analyzed region wise.